Long-term stories include solar, SUNY, Brooks
SUNY Fredonia is looking at a deficit of around $15 million.
Brooks Memorial Hospital in Dunkirk is deep in the red and gaining no apparent traction in its quest to get the state to free up grant money for a new facility in Dunkirk.
OBSERVER File photos A rally organized at the Clarion Hotel to support a new Brooks Memorial Hospital in Fredonia drew a counter rally outside to support the facility staying in Dunkirk.
Observer File Photos Adam Rowles, Saturn Power project manager, describes a proposed solar farm to Pomfret Town Board members Christopher Schaeffer (left) and John Sedota in July as Town Supervisor Dan Pacos looks at a map of the proposal.
SUNY Fredonia is looking at a deficit of around $15 million.
Brooks Memorial Hospital in Dunkirk is deep in the red and gaining no apparent traction in its quest to get the state to free up grant money for a new facility in Dunkirk.
OBSERVER File photos A rally organized at the Clarion Hotel to support a new Brooks Memorial Hospital in Fredonia drew a counter rally outside to support the facility staying in Dunkirk.
Observer File Photos Adam Rowles, Saturn Power project manager, describes a proposed solar farm to Pomfret Town Board members Christopher Schaeffer (left) and John Sedota in July as Town Supervisor Dan Pacos looks at a map of the proposal.
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Some stories can't be closed when the year closes.
The OBSERVER covered a number of stories this year that you'll be hearing more about in 2023.
The ongoing struggle over a proposed new Brooks Memorial Hospital in Fredonia makes the list. Issues at SUNY Fredonia, most notably lower enrollment that has cut into the college's bottom line, will also get revisited. The push for solar and wind power -- and the remnants of what get let behind when the projects end -- will be in the news again, too.
And then, there's the roundabout at Routes 20 and 60. A saga over the erection of a sculpture in the middle of the roundabout will continue in 2023. The roundabout itself has been a source of dissension (and news) ever since the state announced it.
BROOKS IN TROUBLE
There was little movement in 2022 on Brooks-TLC's plans for a new hospital in what is now a grape field off East Main Street in Fredonia.
The state is not releasing $74 million in grant money it earmarked in 2016 for the project, because it faults Brooks-TLC's plan. The hospital administration has already cut the bed count in its proposal, shifting to more of a "micro hospital" concept.
Brooks is bleeding money. Their officials reportedly forecast multimillion-dollar deficits even if a new hospital is built.
There was change at the top, too. Mary LaRowe retired as president and CEO, and Kenneth Morris took her place.
Meanwhile, community action over the new hospital made small ripples.
A committee was put together to assist Brooks with state. The hospital sponsored a June rally at the Clarion Hotel to pump out community support for a Fredonia hospital. However, protestors outside demanded that the hospital stay in Dunkirk.
A May offer by Route 60 landowners to lease their land for a new hospital drew little attention. John Ramos and Saunsanie Kitchko told the OBSERVER their town of Dunkirk land near the Thruway offered good location and infrastructure.
Over on East Main Street, the grape field that was supposed to be eradicated in favor of a hospital by now, remains in place.
SUNY FREDONIA WOES
Early in the year, the college faced a social media firestorm. Philosophy professor Stephen Kershnar made comments about adult sex with children that surfaced online in early February. Amid severe criticism of Kershnar, the college quickly distanced itself -- the University Senate condemned his comments and he was removed from classroom duties. He is still listed on the college's website as a philosophy professor.
As the year progressed, the longer-lasting story was the college's troubled bottom line and its related problems with falling enrollment.
In October, it reported a deficit of $15,942,894 as of June 30. The 2021-22 school year budget originally projected about 4,100 students, but 3,731 students actually attended.
Delays in hiring -- including a pause on several administrative positions -- and federal stimulus money helped make up the gap.
There is a push across the SUNY system to get the state to boost its funding. A rally at Buffalo State highlighted financial woes there and at SUNY Fredonia.
SOLAR AND WIND
Albany's incessant push for renewable energy sources has led to a glut of proposed solar farms in the north county.
The latest were solar farms in Pomfret and Stockton which got Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) agreements from the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency in early December. That brought to 21 the number of solar projects approved for PILOTs in the county since summer 2020.
A large 270 megawatt project in South Ripley remains in limbo as developers face regulatory hurdles. They still hope to break ground early in 2023.
The Hanover, Sheridan and Pomfret Town boards all got multiple proposals for solar farms, and most passed.
Siemens Energy wants the village of Fredonia to put up a solar array on village-owned land in Pomfret, in exchange for low-cost energy.
In the background of all these moves: a report at a September IDA meeting that National Grid can't accept many more green projects because "We are coming up quickly to the constraints area on the grid," as IDA Chief Financial Officer Richard Dixon put it.
On the wind front, there was continued concern about the possibility of wind turbines placed off the Lake Erie shore. Fears got stoked when a wind turbine project was approved for the lake near Cleveland, Ohio.
The North County Water District went on record in November as strongly opposed to turbines in Lake Erie. The district gets its water from the lake through the city of Dunkirk.
CIRCLING THE CIRCLE
Pomfret Deputy Town Supervisor Ann Eckman proposed a sculpture for the center of the roundabout at Routes 20 and 60 in April. Created by Joe Sorci, the piece is called "Unfurl."
That, however, unfurled some bureaucracy, in the form of the state demanding three permits for the sculpture. It also unfurled another social media kerfuffle -- locals went back and forth over the sculpture, whether it was safe for the roundabout, and the roundabout itself.
Eckman, Town Supervisor Dan Pacos and Pomfret workers cleared weeds out of the middle of the roundabout in September, eliminating an eyesore that had grown over the summer.
However, it is still not clear whether the state has approved permits for the sculpture, or a garden planned around it, yet. "This has been a very frustrating process for us," Eckman said in September.